Super Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter IV (スーパーストリートファイター IV Sūpā Sutorīto Faitā Fō) is a 2010 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is an updated version of Street Fighter IV and has been said to mark the definitive end of the Street Fighter IV series. Having been deemed as too large an update to be deployed as DLC, the game was made into a standalone title, but given a lower price than that of a full retail game. It was released on April 27, 2010 in North America, April 28, 2010 in Japan, and April 30, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Gameplay Much like Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV features 3D backgrounds and characters played on a 2D plane. Exclusive additions like Focus Attacks and separate meters for both Super and Ultra Combos make a return. The Ultra Combo gauge and moves has been left unchanged since Street Fighter IV. All characters feature at least two Ultra Combos. However, only one Ultra can be selected at a time in a way similar to the Super Arts system in the Street Fighter III series. The goal is to exhaust the opponent's health meter before the time runs out. The player wins a round if they deplete their opponent's health meter, or have more health than their opponent when time runs out. If both players deplete their meters at the same time or contain the same amount when the round timer ends, it will result in either a "Double KO" or a draw giving both players a round win. If there isn't a clear winner by the final match, it will result in a "draw game" (during online play, both players will lose battle points, and player points, in the result of a draw game). Similar to past entries, Super Street Fighter IV is played using an eight-way directional system giving players the ability to jump, crouch, and move towards and away from opponents. Generally, there are six attack buttons for both punch and kick commands with three of each type, differing in strength and speed. Similar to the latter two games from the Street Fighter III series, grabs are performed by pressing both light attacks, while taunts are performed by pressing both heavy attacks simultaneously. When playing through the single-player mode, if toggled on, there are additional bonus stages allowing a chance to receive additional points, similar to the ones found in Street Fighter II. The first challenge involves breaking a car while the second has players break as many barrels as they can. Modes Super Street Fighter IV features modes from the original game including "Arcade", "Versus", "Training", and "Trials". The game features a few additional online modes apart from Ranked battles. "Team Battle" can have up to 4 players per team to battle against another group. "Endless Battle" has the winner playing against a rotating group of up to 8 players. To replace Street Fighter IV's "Championship Mode", "Tournament" allows players compete in a small single elimination bracket. "Replay Channel" allows players to view and save replays from various matches around the world. Characters Super Street Fighter IV includes all the original 25 characters from the home version of Street Fighter IV, as well as ten new characters, all of which are unlocked at the start of the game. After the game's release, Ono also showed interest in making additional characters available in the future as downloadable content (DLC). Among the added characters are Dee Jay and T. Hawk from Super Street Fighter II, who were initially intended for the original Street Fighter IV but later dropped. Adon from the original Street Fighter and Cody and Guy from Final Fight are available, based on their incarnations in the Street Fighter Alpha series. Additionally, Dudley, Ibuki, and Makoto return from the Street Fighter III series. The first among the two new characters is Juri, a young South Korean female Taekwondo fighter, who works for Seth's organization, S.I.N. Juri has an energy-boosting device implanted inside her left eye called the "Feng Shui Engine", which provides her with time-warping abilities. The second fighter, Hakan, is a Turkish oil wrestler who seeks to prove that Turkish oil wrestling is the greatest fighting style on Earth. Also available as DLC are Yun and Yang from the Street Fighter III series, Evil Ryu from the Street Fighter Alpha series, and new character Oni, a version of Shin Akuma who has been engulfed by the Satsui no Hadou. All four are downloadable as part of the Arcade Edition pack, which adds all of the new features from the arcade version of the game. Once downloaded, Evil Ryu and Oni join Akuma and Gouken as hidden bosses in the arcade mode. Each returning character from the original version of Street Fighter IV features an additional third costume, whereas newly introduced characters have only 2 available. Old costumes from the original Street Fighter IV can be used after purchasing downloadable costume packs from Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. These costumes are automatically loaded in Super Street Fighter IV. Development Capcom officially hinted at the game in early September 2009 when they opened a teaser site in their official Japanese website. An official announcement was made on September 28, 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with an arcade version initially only considered a possibility depending on fan support. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition On April 4, 2010, an arcade version was confirmed by producer Yoshinori Ono during the Japanese Street Fighter IV finals. Various playtests were handled in various arcades as well as appearing during the Street Fighter IV finals at Tougeki - Super Battle Opera Shortly before release, images showing debug Xbox 360 achievements from Microsoft's PartnerNet service featuring characters from Arcade Edition were leaked, implying a future console release. During the launch of the Arcade Edition of Super Street Fighter IV, a launch trailer was uploaded teasing characters Evil Ryu and Oni. Various arcades around the United States who obtained Arcade Edition units also were able to gain access to the then unannounced characters planned for a later release. Videos featuring Evil Ryu and Oni were requested to be closed as well as accounts suspended at the request of Capcom. Evil Ryu became officially playable on March 25, 2011 while Oni was released on April 8, 2011. During Capcom's Captivate event, multiple ports of Arcade Edition would be released. It was released on June 7, 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as online downloadable content and physical media on June 28, 2011. Although initially questioned due to the rampant piracy the original Street Fighter IV suffered on the platform, on April 12, 2011 it was announced that a PC version would be released in July 5, 2011, with the contents of Arcade Edition included. Same as the previous game, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition utilizes an NESYS Card system which allows arcade players to keep and track their BP and PP statistics. The pre-match screen will now show a national rank and a prefectural rank as well as an introduction message up to 30 characters long. Other aspects of Arcade Edition include fighting Evil Ryu and Oni as hidden bosses as well as every character receiving various tweaks, ranging from character balancing to new EX moves. The console and Microsoft Windows ports of Arcade Edition feature the same character and re-balancing additions found in the arcade release. The downloadable console versions require players to update their existing copy with a major patch featuring the Arcade Edition content as well as expanded existing modes. Players are able to switch between Super and Arcade Edition. The "Replay Channel" has been expanded to allow players to follow others' recent games, distribute replays, and watch a special channel featuring proficient players. The Microsoft Windows version will also feature a benchmark test for computers and will make use of Games for Windows Live. Capcom community manager Seth Killian announced that the Arcade Edition will be the final version of the Street Fighter IV series. On August 11, 2011, Capcom announced that there would be a free balance patch for all versions of the game called "Version 2012". It was released on December 13th for the console versions, with the Windows patch released on February 28. Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition At E3 2010, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition was announced for the Nintendo 3DS. It takes advantage of its features such as autostereoscopic 3D and improved wireless features, such as Wi-Fi. In an interview with Famitsu, Yoshinori Ono stated that the gameplay will be the same as Super Street Fighter IV. Ono hopes that they can put all the gameplay modes from the console release on the game, plus original content, and they are looking to the possibility of including arranged costumes. Famitsu stated that all the 35 console characters, plus all the systems, will be on the 3DS release. The game has been called "exactly the same" as its HD counterparts by Capcom. The game features two control schemes, Light and Pro. Light mode allows players to set up to four hotkeys for moves and combos on the touchscreen, with each character having a custom loadout. For Pro players, combos have to be performed manually, but hotkeys can be assigned to certain commands to compensate for the 3DS's control layout. The game can be played either in the traditional 2D viewpoint, or in an optional over the shoulder 3D view. Also announced was the ability to swap "trophies" using "StreetPass" and the ability to launch into battles when in proximity of another Street Fighter IV player. The game will also feature Download Play, allowing two local players who have downloaded the game from another player to play against each other without a copy of the game (though these players are restricted to only one stage and Ryu). Downloadable Content In Asia, a downloadable voucher for a Super Street Fighter IV movie featuring Juri was given in the Collector's Edition of the Xbox 360 version. The 40-minute feature serves as an origin story to Juri and a canonical precursor to the game. Although having been fully dubbed in English, the movie has not made it outside of Asia due to copyright issues. Owners of the original Street Fighter IV costume DLC packs are able to access their previously purchased DLC packs in the new game, as well as having 2 extra colors unlocked which are only available upon detecting a save from that game. A downloadable Tournament Mode was released on June 15, 2010. As with its previous incarnation, Super Street Fighter IV will be offering optional alternate costumes for each of the characters through paid DLC. Sold in packs, the first bundle was made available on April 27, 2010 Initiated from October 27, 2010 to early 2011, players can purchase another set of optional alternate costumes through paid DLC packs. Reception IGN gave the game a 9.0 and an Editor's Choice award, calling it "a superior version of one of the best fighting games around... with a far more developed online mode compared to the original version". GameTrailers gave the game 9.3, praising it for its improvements over the original. Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann gave the game 5/5 saying "Super Street Fighter IV adds enough great new content to justify skipping over the 'Champion Edition' and 'Hyper Fighting' steps in the Street Fighter upgrade path." CVG gave the 3DS Edition a score of 9.0, praising its appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers, as well as having as much content as its console counterpart. Kotaku also praised the port, saying "if you are going to buy one 3DS game, get this." Links *[http://www.streetfighter.com/us Super Street Fighter IV Official Website] *[http://www.capcom.co.jp/sf4/ Super Street Fighter IV Official Website] (Japanese) *[http://www.capcom.co.jp/blog/sf4/ Super Street Fighter IV Official Blog] (Japanese) Category:2010 video games Category:Most Wanted Games